6 delivery-only restaurants that customers probably don't realize are owned by massive chains such as Chili's, Chuck E. Cheese, Applebee's, and Dog Haus

An Applebee's boneless wing.Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

• Virtual restaurants are invisible, but their numbers are growing during the pandemic.
• They are delivery-only brands that seem to be local restaurants or separate chains, but are owned by and operated out of the kitchens of giant chains.
• Some are more transparent about their true identity and origins than others.

They're invisible, yet they're all around us. And their numbers are growing.

The pandemic has spawned a new species of restaurant: the virtual restaurant. Unfortunately, we're not referring to nifty 3D virtual reality recreations of the dining out experience, although those exist too.

What we're referring to is the kind of restaurant that only truly exists on delivery platforms, the Pasqually's Pizzas of the world that seem to be friendly neighborhood joints but are really operating out of the kitchens of big chain restaurants.

Some, like Just Salad's "Health Tribes by Just Salad," are clearly labeled for what they are: market-specific digital offshoots of bigger brands designed to game the increasingly competitive delivery landscape by targeting a singular menu item. Others, however, may make their true identities it less immediately clear to the hungry consumer.

These restaurants may not be who they seem.